Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK)

Another freight train was sent off from Kazakhstan to Turkey’s Mersin port city via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, Kazinform news agency reported with reference to the Kostanay branch of KTZ-Freight Transportation JSC Feb. 13.

The Baku- Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will play a role of a guarantor for stability and security in the region, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay Rashad Aslanov said in his article published in Argentina’s Télam national news agency and Paraguay’s Agencia IP.

Russia can transport its cargoes via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on November 20 in Baku.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which was launched last week in Baku, will undoubtedly expand trade and transport possibilities of all three countries involved – Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The railway will transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo at an early stage, and then its peak capacity will reach 17 million tons of cargo per year.

Armenia tried to prevent the attraction of loans for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, Azerbaijan’s Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said on November 7. He made the remarks at a meeting of five parliamentary committees for discussing the draft state and consolidated budgets for 2018.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that after Armenian troops withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Armenia will be able to benefit from regional integration opportunities, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend.